Can you do Paris in a day and is it worth it?
Extreme day trips are a thing so we thought we'd see how much of Paris we could squeeze into 24 hours. There and back in a day? Easy!
What do we mean by extreme day trip? Just nipping to another country for a day, whether it's Lisbon for an unbeatable pastel de nata, Berlin for a stein or Paris for a… burger?
Getting there
5.30am, alarm goes off
If you're gonna do Paris in a day then you need to start early – the-6am-train-to-London early. Unless you already live in London, in which case enjoy another hour in bed.
Save a bit of time and put your coffee in a reusable cup to bring with you – it'll come in handy later. We were getting the Eurostar from St Pancras at about 9am, which meant checking in at the station for 7.30am.
Tip: Eurostar will officially tell you to get to the station 90 minutes before departure so you have plenty of time to get through security. And who are we, a team of three seasoned travel experts, to disagree? Well, we were through security by 7.40am queueing up at Pret for porridge and a flat white. Take from that what you will, but do bear in mind you'll need to be at the station 30 minutes before departure at the latest.
Hop on the train, find our seats, headphones in and try and get some sleep. Or go over our content plans because that's what we were there for.
Tip: Remember the reusable coffee cup I told you to bring? Take it to the cafe car for a hot drink and you'll get 50p off. 50p!
@holidayextras This is your sign to add an extreme day trip to your travel bucket list. ? 24 hours, full holiday mood. ???? Which city would you visit first? ???? #ExtremeDayTrip #Paris #HolidayMood #HolidayExtras #Travel ? original sound - Holiday Extras
Midday disco
We arrived in Paris just in time for lunch, and what's a day in Paris without a traditional burger with the edges welded together? Hear me out!
We'd seen these amazing sealed burgers trending and we'd be lying if we said that they weren't at least 80% of the reason we chose Paris for our first extreme day trip.
So we got an Uber straight to Disco Burger to try one of their amazing, deep-filled, steaming hot, sealed (no spilling the filling!) burgers complete with fries and some special disco sauce to dunk them in. They were exactly what we needed to refuel for an afternoon of exploring the city in the crisp January weather.
We also happened to be around the corner from Café des Deux Moulins, also known as the cafe from Amelie, and we had just enough time to top up on coffee before heading to the next location on our itinerary…
The best places to eat in Paris
Here's all the best food we ate in Paris, from escargots to a croissant bigger than the sun. Probably.
Find out more...…The Eiffel Tower
Back in an Uber and onto the most iconic of Parisian attractions, the Eiffel Tower.
Tip: If it's in your budget, Uber is the way to go. You won't have a lot of time to see the city, so if you can settle for the views from a car window it beats the dark tunnels of the Metro. And if it's your first time there you won't have to spend any time learning how to navigate the network.
Our driver dropped us off on Quai Jacques Chirac right outside the Eiffel Tower, but we were on the clock so we definitely didn't have time to go up it. But we did have half an hour or so to soak in the atmosphere on the Pont d'Iéna bridge where tons of other visitors were enjoying the view and getting the perfect selfie. And so were we. And also doing a stupid dance for a trending TikTok video. Except me. Because I refused.
But the afternoon was ticking on and we still had a couple of things to do before heading back to the station.
The big reopening
In case you missed it, Notre-Dame has reopened and this was the other big reason we wanted to make Paris our first extreme day trip.
The queue to get in went on for days so if you want to visit properly you'll need to book it. Of course, we didn't have time, so we settled for a hot drink on Place Jean-Paul II (the square right outside) and ogled the gargoyles and flying buttresses from ground level. Who doesn't love a good flying buttress?
Tip: Don't use the public toilet down the stairs on Place Jean-Paul II – it costs 2 euros and you need to have change. Head to the other side of the square where you'll find a perfectly functional public urinoir for free. Provided you can do it standing up. Paris has a thing against free sit-down wees apparently.
By the time we'd finished admiring the Gothic masterpiece in front of us we only had a couple of hours before we had to be at the station for our train back. It was leaving at 9pm and we still needed some dinner.
We Uber'ed back to the train station and found a restaurant for a quick dinner before zipping through security and picking up some French snacks for the ride home. It was about 8.30pm, we'd been in Paris for about 8 hours and awake for twice that.
Was it worth it?
Ask me again once I've caught up on my sleep. A little joke, but with a hint of truth in there. It was an absolutely exhausting day but you'd be amazed how much you can fit in. If you can pick out what you want to do while you're there and plan your day around it you're golden.
If you're someone who likes to take the time to really absorb the destination then an extreme day trip might not be for you. But if you want to tick somewhere off your list or revisit somewhere you've been before, then a day trip might be the answer. Plus think of all that annual leave you'll save. You'll also save a bit of money not paying for accommodation (provided it doesn't get eaten up by the Ubers).
Let's take the hassle out of your holiday.
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